Heretofore, some homes and other buildings having fireplaces have been provided with fireplace starting devices which have been supplied with flammable gas fuel by connection to a household gas supply such as a natural gas utility or a fixed, refillable LPG tank. Such devices have commonly included a permanent connection from the home's gas meter or tank to the inlet of a permanently installed, dedicated on/off valve usually located immediately adjacent the fireplace. A second permanently installed conduit connects the outlet of such valve to the fireplace, where a gas burner is connected to the second conduit either by rigid or flexible conduit. Such conduit may pass through the single knockout hole, commonly a round hole about one inch (25 mm) in diameter, that is commonly provided for that purpose in the sidewall of many preassembled fireplaces. Such burner may be located beneath a log grate within the fireplace.
In operation, after wood logs or other combustible materials or non-combustible artificial logs are placed upon the log grate, the gas valve is opened and the flammable gas flowing through and out of the burner within the fireplace is ignited, as by a match or butane lighter. If logs or other combustible material have been used, the gas supply to the burner may be turned off at the valve after they have ignited. If artificial logs are used, the valve may be turned off when a flame is no longer desired.
Such permanently installed and connected devices as described above suffer from significant disadvantages. The gas used is flammable and can fill a room if allowed to flow into the fireplace in the absence of a flame. Such devices include no means for igniting the gas, requiring the user to provide an ignition device such as a match or handheld butane lighter. Such devices also include no means for insuring that the gas is ignited initially or for reigniting the gas should the flame be extinguished while the gas supply valve remains open. The device described requires connection to a household gas supply, a connection which is in itself expensive and requires service from a natural gas utility or a fixed, refillable LPG tank. Additionally, such devices as described make no provision for the storage of fireplace tools or accessories or emergency devices such as a fire extinguisher.
At least one of these objections has been overcome by the provision of portable fireplace starting devices fueled by replaceable propane canisters. Such devices have included a unitary device having a burner, a conduit connecting the burner to the replaceable canister, and the canister itself. Although such devices may be used in homes lacking a natural gas utility connection, they suffer additional disadvantages including the need to remove the hot, dirty, ash covered burner from the fireplace for storage between uses. This particular disadvantage has been overcome by my co-pending application, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,608, issued Oct. 25, 1988, which provides a two-piece fireplace starter in which the burner may remain in the fireplace, permanently attached to the grate, while a portion of the conduit and the replaceable canister may be disconnected therefrom and stored. However, even this improved device contains the disadvantage of all such devices in requiring that at least a portion of the starter be separately stored away from the fireplace and retrieved for each use, as well as providing no ignition or reignition device.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a fireplace starting apparatus which may be permanently installed and which may include a flame ignition device capable of igniting the flammable gas within the fireplace, which flame ignition device may be remotely operable from outside the fireplace.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a self-igniting fireplace starter device which may also be used to provide a flame for artificial logs and gas fireplaces.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a flammable gas fireplace starting apparatus in which the gas is automatically ignited when the gas supply valve is opened.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a flammable gas fireplace starter in which the gas is automatically reignited if the flame is extinguished while the gas valve remains open.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fireplace starter apparatus in which both the gas supply conduit to the burner and the ignition/reignition control means may enter the fireplace through the single knockout hole commonly provided in preassembled fireplaces.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fixed fireplace ignition apparatus which may be permanently installed and may be used in a home that lacks a household gas supply.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fireplace starting apparatus in which the burner and controls may be permanently installed in a home and which may be fueled by portable replaceable or refillable canisters of flammable gas either interior of or exterior of the home.